Just then, there was another loud bang.
I couldn't help but flinch from the sudden noise.
Suo Tian pointed toward the elevator next to the stairs, motioning for us to head over.
The three of us lowered our steps, slowly approaching the elevator.
Though it was a short distance, it took us quite a while to cross it.
During that time, another bang echoed again.
This time, I heard it clearly—it was definitely coming from inside the elevator.
My eyes were locked on the elevator doors the whole time, a constant dread gnawing at me, as if they might open at any second and release the starving demon inside.
Just as all three of us were focused on the elevator, the glass doors at the front of the lobby were suddenly struck with several loud thuds.
The three of us immediately exchanged glances.
I quickly backed away and ran toward the lobby—only to freeze as soon as I saw what was happening.
My scalp almost went numb.
Just a minute ago, the courtyard had been eerily silent and empty—now it was swaying with the staggering movements of numerous walkers.
A few of them, perhaps having keen ears, had already pressed up against the glass door.
With mouths full of rotting teeth, they let out hoarse groans, baring their jaws wide open.
When they saw me, their howling grew even louder, with no concern for whether their decaying jaws might fall right off from opening so wide.
Damn it! Where the hell did all these things come from?!
The door, which had only been loosely latched, was already starting to shake from the pounding of those few walkers.
I rushed over and quickly locked it.
My movement only made them more agitated.
They pressed their faces tightly against the glass, howling even louder.
Their noise attracted more walkers from around the courtyard.
One by one, more of them turned and began shambling in our direction.
I immediately pulled back and stopped hesitating.
I sprinted toward Suo Tian and the others.
"Quick! Go get Shu Guang—there are suddenly tons of walkers outside the lobby. The entrance is blocked!"
Not that I even needed to say it; from the sounds coming from outside, the other two could more or less guess what had happened.
With no better option, we rushed back into the pharmacy to get Shu Guang.
As we crossed the lobby, the entrance was already completely swarmed by walkers.
Shen Feng asked, "Where the hell did they all come from?"
"I have no idea!" I replied.
Inside the pharmacy, Shu Guang had already finished preparing the medicine.
The noise outside didn't seem to faze him too much.
When he saw us, he was still calmly shaking the last bottle, asking, "What's the situation out there?"
"A whole group of walkers came out of nowhere and blocked the main entrance. Hurry and pack up—let's see if we can get out through the window Suo Tian climbed in from earlier," Shen Feng urged.
"I'm done with everything. Let's go," Shu Guang said, slipping the last bottle into his backpack.
We didn't dare linger in the hallway any longer.
The growing horde of walkers outside was seriously unnerving.
Now we could only hope that there weren't too many of them around the side Suo Tian had climbed in from.
Otherwise, we'd really be in deep trouble today.
The four of us dashed up to the second floor, but as soon as we turned the stairwell corner, we heard a chaotic flurry of footsteps mixed with snarling coming from the third floor!
Before we could even react, a swarm of figures came charging down from above.
"SHIT!"
Suo Tian suddenly blurted out in English.
Before I could even process it, he grabbed me and pulled me into a full sprint down the second-floor hallway.
Shen Feng and Shu Guang were right behind us.
And so were the walkers.
They weren't as fast as us, but there were too many of them.
After charging down the stairs, they completely blocked off the stairwell.
There was only one door open at the very end of the hallway, and we rushed inside.
When Shen Feng turned around to shut the door, we realized the lock was broken.
"Push the bed over! Block the door!" Shu Guang shouted.
The chaotic footsteps outside were growing closer and closer.
Suo Tian ran to the bed, bent down, and with a sharp grunt, he pushed the bed with all his might.
A loud screech echoed, and the bed was shoved against the door, effectively blocking it.
At that moment, the walkers had already reached the door.
They were desperately snarling, trying to force their way in.
Outside, there was a series of thumping sounds, mixed with the scraping of nails and palms against the door.
The four of us pushed against the bed with all our strength, trying to keep them from pushing the door open!
If so many walkers broke through, we wouldn't even have time to turn around and run, except for Suo Tian.
The rest of us would be trapped!
In most cases, in moments of crisis, people tend to be incredibly clear-headed.
Just like now, I was fully aware of the fear of facing death head-on.
My lips were trembling.
I tried to control it, but it was all in vain.
One leg was firmly bracing the door, gritting my teeth to hold it shut.
"Chen Yang, you go first. Climb down from the window, quickly!"
Suo Tian's voice was slightly out of breath, and he practically shouted the words.
This was a matter of life and death.
This wasn't a movie or a melodramatic TV show.
There was no time for me to be sentimental and say, "No! You all go first."
Since Suo Tian said it, it meant he had a plan!
I quickly responded with a "Alright," then cautiously released my hand from the door.
After confirming that they could hold it, I turned and ran toward the window.
I glanced down from the window.
Perfect!
All the walkers had been drawn away by the noise at the front door, and there wasn't a single one here.
I couldn't afford to be scared.
I tucked my dagger into my pants belt, placed both hands on the window frame, and with a strong push, flipped myself out of the window, landing on the air conditioning unit outside.
I quickly turned sideways, reached out, and grabbed onto the nearby downspout.
My arms weren't strong enough.
As soon as my feet left the air conditioning unit, my hands couldn't bear the weight of my body.
I slid straight down, and I almost screamed, but I bit my lip so hard that I nearly drew blood, forcing myself to hold it in.
After sliding down a bit, I managed to step onto the outer frame of the security window.
With that support, I finally stopped.
I wasn't far from the ground now, so I released my grip, leaped, and landed directly on the ground.
But I overestimated my jumping ability.
The moment my feet hit the ground, the impact made my legs go numb.
I gritted my teeth, quickly checked my surroundings, and looked up to see that Shu Guang and Shen Feng were rapidly climbing down.
But where was Suo Tian? Was he holding on by himself?
What would he do once we were all down?
I didn't pay attention to how Shu Guang and Shen Feng came down.
My heart was in my throat—what would Suo Tian do, what would he do?
Just then, Suo Tian suddenly appeared at the window edge and then leaped down!
He landed steadily not far from me.
It seemed that my worry for him was always unnecessary.
I still couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Without saying a word, he turned around, grabbed my arm, and quickly ran forward!
I looked back for a moment and saw that the second-floor window was completely blocked by a mass of walkers.
A few of them even jumped down from the second floor, falling to the ground, but they quickly got back up, staggering and roaring as they chased after us.
It seemed that Suo Tian wasn't planning to give up on the car.
He dragged me around the building and headed straight for the front yard.
As soon as we rounded the corner of the hall, the deafening roars instantly filled my ears.
I instinctively slowed down for a moment.
Suo Tian didn't give me any time to pause.
He suddenly tightened his grip, pulling me forward, and quickly said to me,
"Don't be afraid, I'm here."
.....
After running a few more steps, I finally had a clear view of the situation in the yard.
All the walkers had gathered in front of the hall and didn't seem to notice us on the other side of the building.
At that moment, I noticed an entrance on the right side that looked like an underground parking garage.
I wasn't sure exactly what it was, but walkers were slowly emerging from inside.
It seemed that all these walkers had been inside there.
They must have been disturbed by the sound of our car, which is why they all came out.
But how had they all stayed in there before?
Before I could think much more about it, Suo Tian quickened his pace and headed straight for the car.
There were only two female walkers in nurse uniforms stumbling near the car.
I instinctively reached for my dagger, but I had tucked it away too tightly earlier, and no matter how hard I tugged, I couldn't pull it out.
I couldn't help but feel frustrated.
At that moment, Suo Tian let go of my arm, drew his blade, and rushed toward the two walkers.
With two swift slashes, dirty blood splattered into the air.
The two walkers collapsed to the ground.
The walkers that had been gathered in front of the hall immediately noticed us as we rushed out.
In that instant, a dark mass of them started roaring and chasing after us.
Not daring to waste any time, Shen Feng quickly started the car, and the three of us hurriedly climbed in.
The car sped quickly out of the gate.
I turned around and looked through the rear window, watching the scene behind us.
A large group of walkers, snarling and clawing, were shouting at the car.
I let out a long sigh of relief.
They moved slowly and couldn't catch up with us.
Sitting in the car, I suddenly felt like a living person again.
Shu Guang was sitting in the passenger seat.
I turned my head to look at Suo Tian, who was gazing out the window, slowly savoring his words earlier, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Suddenly, Suo Tian turned his head, and our dark gazes collided.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing, just thinking about how those walkers suddenly appeared. There was no sign of them before," I withdrew my gaze and straightened my posture.
"We startled them."
"But there couldn't have been absolutely no walkers in the yard before."
"That underground entrance has a section of fallen fencing, which was probably blocking the door."
"Really?!" I suddenly understood.
If that's the case, it makes sense.
If no one had been around here for a while, and there was something blocking that entrance, the walkers wouldn't have known to move things.
With the obstacle in their way, they would instinctively avoid it.
But today, our presence startled them.
Their hunger drove them to ignore the obstacle and charge out.
We didn't notice the scattered walkers at first, but as they gathered more and more, till we finally spotted them.
"Anyway, today was really dangerous. Who would have thought that the hospital could hide such a large group of things?"
Shen Feng was driving, glancing at us through the rearview mirror.
His tone was full of relief, as if he had just narrowly escaped death.
"Wasn't it dangerous? Fortunately, the bag wasn't lost. It has enough medicine for that little girl for ten days," Shu Guang said, patting the backpack he was holding tightly in his arms.
"Shu Guang, I'm really sorry. You had to face such a situation on your first outing," I said apologetically.
To be honest, at this moment, I felt more moved by him.
In such a dangerous situation, he never gave up on the backpack or the medicine inside.